Paradise Lost's 'Medusa' - Album Review

Halifax's Paradise Lost, one of the true originators of the death/doom genre during the late 1980s and early 1990s, have been riding on a real high over the past couple of years. For a band who created some of the most melancholic heavy music to come from the UK on their first few releases, Paradise Lost's experimentations with their sound over the years certainly brought mixed results. The initial move away from harsh vocals towards a cleaner, more gothic delivery, that came to a head on fan-favourite album Draconian Times in 1995, was a success and saw the band on a natural trajectory from 1990's debut album Lost Paradise. Post-Draconian Times, it is fair to say that results have been mixed. The introduction of prominent synths, which definitely took influence from bands like The Sisters of Mercy, on 1997's One Second worked well but this direction certainly outstayed it's welcome and Paradise spend ten years or so releasing divisive albums to little commercial success, some of which even the band themselves have now distanced themselves from. For the past ten or so years however, Paradise Lost have been back on the right track. 2007's In Requiem was a return to the gothic melodrama of Draconian Times and certainly raised a few heads when it was released a decade ago. Since then, Paradise Lost have firmly been back in the metal world's collective conscious again. Both 2009's Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us and 2012's Tragic Idol, which were cut from the same cloth as In Requiem, were well received the band's touring schedule picked up once again as they were booked to play bigger rooms. As an aside, a few years ago the band's two main songwriters, frontman Nick Holmes and guitarist Greg Mackintosh, began to reacquaint themselves with their extreme metal roots. Mackintosh's death/grind side project Vallenfyre, which he fronts, is far heavier and dirtier than anything Paradise Lost have ever done. Their albums, particularly the 2011 debut A Fragile King, have been well received and the band are genuinely big hitters in extreme metal circles. Parallel to this, after around two decades of singing mostly with his clean voice, Holmes joined death metal supergroup Bloodbath in 2012 and unleashed his growls on the world once again. It was no doubt these extra curricular ventures that led to 2015's The Plague Within (which I reviewed here), a monster of a death/doom album that saw Paradise Lost return to their early sound. It was easily the band's best-received album in years, so it is no surprise that the band have returned to that sound once more for their latest opus Medusa, which is their fifteenth studio album overall. The production team responsible for The Plague Within returns here, so it is unsurprising that Medusa feels like a companion piece to the previous release. The only major difference here is Finnish drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (Hypothesis; Vallenfyre), who was officially announced as the band's drummer last year replacing the departing Adrian Erlandsson, but his slow, booming drum style is perfect for the bleak, heavy material found here.

The album gets underway with Fearless Sky, the longest song here at over eight minutes in length, which opens with melancholic organ playing before Mackintosh's first of many crushing riffs kicks in. Subtle, Black Sabbath-esque leads are thrown in over the top, but the song's initial power comes from Mackintosh's doomy chords, backed up well by rhythm guitarist Aaron Aedy and bassist Steve Edmondson. This riff forms the basis of the first part of the song, and sees Holmes unleashing some of the most demonic harsh vocals of his career yet. His slightly croaky delivery is perfect for the song's desolate mood and fits in well with the sluggish pace found here. There is a bit of a chorus which rears it's head every so often, and this sees Holmes employ his gothic clean voice, backed by some melodic guitar leads, which acts a great contrast with the much heavier sections. The majority of this album sees Holmes growling, but bursts of clean vocals help to stop the album from becoming monotonous. Towards the end, the song picks up the pace, with Väyrynen leading the way with lots of excellent drum fills, and sees Holmes' more traditional clean vocals put to good use. With Fearless Sky really setting a dark tone, Gods of Ancient reinforces this with a raw-sounding guitar and some frantic drumming. While the initial instrumental portion of the song is played at a faster pace, when the song reaches the verses the speed slows right down again to that of a crawl as Holmes' throaty harsh vocals pour out of the speakers. Mackintosh uses more guitar leads here, which add a cutting melodic counterpart to Aedy's suffocating chords, and he dominates the instrumental sections with spiralling melodies. Lots of comparisons can be drawn between the sound here and that of Black Sabbath's, as the songs here tend to speed up towards the end with a riff that is similar to something Tony Iommi might have come up with. This song is no different, and picks up towards the end with a heavy, bluesy riff that hits hard. The shorter From the Gallows has one of Mackintosh's trademark guitar leads during the intro, and picks up the pace somewhat with some fast double bass drumming from Väyrynen. The intro riff is still pretty slow, so the fast drumming beneath makes for a slightly unsettling listen. The verses are much faster than usual here, with crunching power chord-based riffing over some more traditional death metal drumming. Paradise Lost are known for their slower sound, but they can pick up the pace well on occasion too and relentless songs like this help to create a dynamic listening experience and allow Väyrynen more of a chance to show off. The Longest Winter returns to the band's customary slower pace however with a really dirty opening riff that really rumbles out of the speakers with true power. Holmes sings much of the song using his clean voice here, something not used since the album's opening number, and his deep, booming voice really cuts through the sludgy riffing perfectly. There is a strong chorus here, not something the band are particularly known for, but the vocal melodies are easy to latch on to and Mackintosh does his bit with some subtle, tortured guitar leads.

Opening with some distant piano chords, the album's title track is another long one at over six minutes in length. Mackintosh's guitar leads are not always as prominent here as they are on other Paradise Lost, but this song puts them back into the spotlight perfectly right away with some absolutely gorgeous phrasing that just steals the show. I often think that there is a lot of David Gilmour is Mackintosh's lead playing, and some of the melodies here really display that. Again, Holmes sings the song largely using his clean voice and he sound fantastic throughout. In my opinion, Holmes is sounding better than he ever has recently and has put down some of his best vocal performances to date on this album. Both his harsh and clean vocals sound stronger than they ever have here, and his ability to effortlessly switch between the two shows his talent as a vocalist. Every so often the song strips back to the piano lines used in the intro, which works well to provide a mix of light and shade. I feel this song really showcases Paradise Lost at their best as it has a great mix of their more gothic, melodic sound, mixed in with their heavier, death metal sound perfectly. No Passage for the Dead opens with another excellent guitar lead, before again descending into heavier territory with another slow-paced verse packed with Holmes' throat-shredding vocals. Despite the heavier feel, this is still a fairly melodic song with a lot of emphasis placed on Mackintosh's guitar leads and a chorus that features Heather Mackintosh (Tapping the Vein), who has contributed to many of the band's recent albums, harmonising well with Holmes. Single Blood & Chaos is a faster song, and definitely has hallmarks of the band's Draconian Times era but with harsh vocals used in places. Holmes uses both of his voices well here, and that song has a strong gothic overtone that fits perfectly with the somewhat spacey heavier riffs. The song's chorus is easily the most catchy here, which is clearly why the band chose to shoot a video for it. I imagine this song will become a live favourite with it's strong energy and overt melodies. There is a short, but excellent guitar solo from Mackintosh too that adds an extra spark of melody to make this song one of the most instantly memorable the band has done in a while. The closing number Until the Grave returns to the heavy doom metal sound found throughout the majority of the album with another sledgehammer riff. While not as slow as many of the songs here, this still manages to create a creepy atmosphere with with Holmes' perfectly evil vocal display and some chiming guitar melodies that rear their heads throughout to create an unnerving combination. Keyboards are used more extensively during this song however, which does give it more of an atmospheric feel at times, but this takes nothing away from the power of the riffs. Mackintosh gets one last chance to show off with an excellent guitar solo, which shows him playing faster than he often does, before the song comes to a doomy end with plenty of showcase drumming from Väyrynen. Overall, Medusa is another excellent album from a band which has found themselves in the middle of somewhat of a second wind. This album carries on from the great work forged on The Plague Within and sounds even dirtier and heavier at times, while still maintaining a strong gothic edge.

The album was released on 1st September 2017 via Nuclear Blast Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Blood & Chaos.